The Swell Tiki Bar & Grill

The Swell not so swell! After we had been there 10 minutes and had neither been greeted or waited on we decided to leave. The tables were empty and there were about 4 women at the bar. We would have gladly waited if we had been acknowledged. The lack of a friendly greeting was a big turnoff. There are plenty of other choices with better atmosphere, cocktails and creative menus.

Such a shame. Big Sissie’s replacement is awful. While Big Sissie’s prided themselves on good basic housemade comfort food, The Swell serves frozen stuff from bags and boxes and it’s not even the good frozen stuff. We gave it two tries to be fair before this review and both visits were the same. The meatloaf was awful, the «Tiki Taters» were frozen tater tots that they didn’t even try to mask. Even the burger was terrible, obviously a frozen patty that had soy filler, because I honestly belched up soy later in the evening. One of the owners says he is a chef, if so he should be ashamed of himself for running a restaurant like this. I really don’t understand the few good reviews I’m seeing because it’s just BAD!

This place is a much needed addition to Rehoboth! I’m so happy it has appeared! The staff and the owners are amazingly welcoming! Drinks are made well! Atmosphere is congenial and cool. Decorating is upbeat like the staff. Menu is fab with classic options and more healthy choices like a steamed veggie plate! Finally!!! Woohoo!!! And there is parking if you need to drive. FREE PARKING! Yes!
*Great for casual drink. Snacks, dinner, late-​night. And Dancing!*
I also must separetely note that they have an excellent DJ there pretty often (I think every Saturday?). DJ Juan. He is really the real thing — no surprise he is originally from NYC. Great mixing and variety of pop songs, classics, undervalued orginals (I heard two older songs that I loved and had never heard before), and brand new good ones. He also does VJing (video mixing) with the songs, and includes classic videos! We saw a Sister Sledge video that was mind-​blowing while dancing! :)
Swell is also that rare fab mix in Roho of straight and gay, men and women. It’s like the Purple Parrot in that way, but a totally more grown up feel. Not to diss the Parrot — I love it there too — it’s just more playful and chaotic at Parrot, so it depends on your mood. Rehoboth is really growing. Yes!

Nice people and great food. They weren’t even open yet and they still welcomed us and invited us in. The food is fresh and delicious. The peanut butter pie is excellent. Very reasonable prices especially at the beach. Fantastic people and experience.

What a treat and half. Friendly staff and even friendlier drinks. My bartender Laura looked at me with a sense of concern and love and knew exactly what I needed. My dirty martini was just that in every sense of the word, filled with olive juice and nasty thoughts. I’ve had the food here many times and I can tell you with every bite comes a new perspective on the world, one of hope and fading trepidation. I would give it six stars but Unilocal won’t let me, and sadly enough the next day… Laura’s drink gave me a huge headache and a need to phone a friend for a cuddle session. If the Swell can figure out a way to drink until 6am and feel like a power ranger the next day, I’ll write Unilocal myself and have them add a special hidden star. Until then I can only give five stars. P. S. Unilocal makes you select if this place has a «coat check»…and while it may not have that… I assure you the chef Woody will gladly take any extra clothing you may have and give it back to you at a designated time period. If he’s not there I might be there as well. I’ll even take your accessories… i.e. watches, wallets.

Pricey POO!
I had dinner there Friday night. My prime rib had the consistency of an over cooked pork chop. Green beans were good. Clam strips awful. I was glad when the music started because there were only three people at the bar sitting next to each other but they were so loud they sounded like they were screaming to someone in the parking lot. I figured this business is getting started so be patient. I went back on Sunday because one of the owners told me it was a good night. I also wanted to tell her about my Friday experience. She wasn’t there. Had a hamburger. It was obviously hand made. It didn’t fit the bread… kind of like a golf ball with toppings. It was hard to chew it was so over cooked. It kind of tasted like they had mixed onion soup mix in some hamburger and then over cooked it. Grease was dripping out of the bread it was served on. The thing that really fried me was a 10 ounce cup of margarita cost $ 7.00!!! Seriously! A tiny drinking cup for seven bucks. Not much alcohol in it either. The only saving graces were the people playing music or singing!
These folks bought a totally successful and wonderful business and killed it. They closed for several weeks and changed everything including most of the staff. They lost their momentum and their customers. Why didn’t they just rent a new space and open something new? I used to eat there almost every night when it was Big Sissy’s. NO MORE.
If I decide to go there again I will update this post. It will be a while!
UPDATE: No, Alex, I didn’t get my meal for free. Sounds like you have me confused with someone else complaining about my meal. I am sure there are many. I didn’t ask for a reduction in the price or for it to be free. I asked instead for a doggy bag and fed it to my dog. If it is such a good place then tell me why the parking lot is still always empty?
Alex, Please notice from the original post that I gave them a second chance and was miserably disappointed the second time as well.

Great hours, great atmosphere, happy hour from 11−1am. Love the owner and bartenders! Prices are good. It’s also walking distance from where I am staying so that is also a huge plus! Definitely always the last place I get a drink at before heading home for the night. Over all, I’d have to say this place is really «swell», hahah!

Decided to check out the Big Sissies replacement — very disappointed! Menu is appetizers, sandwiches and salads. No «dinner» options. We were seated right away (lots of free tables) — waitress? «Sheila» according to the bill seemed «to busy» to wait for a drink order — and then never returned once she had delivered the drink I ordered! Perused the menu and made decisions about meals — still no return from the wait staff — finally one of us left and the host came over — asked for the bill for my drink — still no visit from the wait staff — finally got the check — paid — still no visit from «Sheila» the wait staff — I suspect Swell can expect nothing less from us — no future visit!